While shopping at Trader Joe's tonight, Brandon and I disagreed over a few things. Stupid things, like whether to get the tiny perlini mozzarellas even though they didn't have an expiration date or whether to buy a nicer bottles of wine (nicer = not Charles Shaw...we're talking $8 bottles...oooo) for the little get together we're having tomorrow night. We weren't fighting really, but it was 8:50 and all I'd had for dinner so far was some cottage cheese, so I was hangry (hunger resulting in crankiness/anger). So on the drive home, I was sulking a little.
And then I looked out the window and saw a helicopter racing towards MetroHealth, probably carrying someone who had real problems, problems that made my cheese and wine crankiness seem as petty and obnoxious as they truly were. This is one of the things I like about medicine. It's hard to stay cranky/sulky about the little things when every day something real happens.
And that's why, despite the cush lifestyle (big money, short work week), I could never go into radiology. That's what I've been doing for the last three weeks. Whenever I tell the radiologists that I'm going into OB/GYN, they make a face and tell me what an awful life I will have. They are wrong. I will have an excellent life, even if I do not have excellent sleep. Nobody thanks their radiologist when they have a good outcome.* Nobody sends pictures of their babies to their radiologist.
Anyway...this is not to say that I will never be cranky or petty again. I'm just looking forward to being back on a rotations where I have more of a direct effect on patients. Sure, I'll miss the regular hours, but at this point in my career catching a baby or scrubbing in the OR beats an extra hour of sleep any day. And, yes, I know that two years from now I will be redacting that statement.
*Yes, I know, there are interventional radiologists. They treat people, and sometimes those people give those radiologists credit. But most radiologists really don't treat at all. This is not a slam on radiologists; this is just not how I want to be a doctor.
2 comments:
Timing is everything. I read your post last night just before Uncle Dale ticked me off by doing something stupid...and unimportant. I did start down the road to over-reaction, but your thoughts sprang to mind and I let it go. As a result both of us were lots happier. Thanks!
I may have to bookmark this one and send it to Wilson every now and then - and to myself.
So who was expiration-date-absence-averse? I honestly can't predict it. That is a good sign, I think.
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